New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-01-30
ZOLA AT HOME.
THE MOTIVE OF HIS NEW BOOK.
ON THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRisuxHl

IHE MOIlNE OF HIS NEW bOOk.
FROM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TaisuxIl
PARIS, January H.
NJ. lola, who rather enjoys being attacked by
Lord TennysOn in "Locksley Hall Sixty Years
After is working at another novel called "The
Earth LA Terre.') As Henry George and the
Irish Land Leaguers have been preaching to the
world that earth is mother NOT a stepmother, and
that all human beings have equal right to her
maternal kindness, l was curious to know whether
NJ. lola brought by mis- studies to regard it IN
the same light that they do. IIe may be said to
have sung dc prOfundis in "Germinal,' in which
novel he takes the reader into the bowels Of the,
earth where the miner in France tolls away from
the suns light, ten twelve, and sometimes four
teen hours day. He now is trying to show to
what degree the peasant deserves to be classed
with the satyr of the Greek mytholOgy--a Great
ure which had little that was human unless the
capacity to walk upright, to laugh, to make alco-
holic drinks, and to invent musical instruments
and play them. NJ. lola thinks that hard sgricult-
ural work does bring out the animal side Of hu-
man nature to the detriment Of the sensitive or
nervous and mental sides, and that the peasant
closely attached to the globe of necessity harsh.
base and nsensble to the higher interests Of hui
manity. But he thinks that this roOtclass UNI
consciously ascends, and that when it gets
into easier circumstances it becomes q stem branch
ing out into twigs rich in foliage, flowers, and in
due time savOry fruits In his preface, Of which
am favored with copy, he says:
wish to write a live poem of the earth, bue
without symbolism Of a human kind. by this I
mean to say that want first to paint in it's low
features the love OF the peasant for his ground
and his passionate greed to possess more and moro
Of IL because it is to him the great material form
Of wealth. | then want to paint the higher love
al frSOm
our bodily form, our daily bread, the fluid that
runs in veins and arteries and in whose
breast are In the end to sleep the sleep OF
death. start with showing the peasant "a
pacious muck-ralSe being Of narrow passions In
the presence Of the great mother who is always
patient, serene and benefcent. 1t is not my in
tenton, however, to paint the rustic blacker than
he really is but to seek out and bring to Light
his redeeming qualities. lie is not one Of natures
nobemen, but he has grandeur Of his own never
theless. In way he Is to be the hero. Tho
action will turn upon a peasant who In SETTING
out owned no patch OF ground, and then how ana
when he came to be an owner. and how he wanted
to own more. Then l shall go into the
question Of the enforced subdivision OF landed
property in France and how it works on u COM
m,Inty Of peasants. / shall throw into relief the
social consequences and explain how great estates
are being again formed, and what they are leading
to. This viii bring me alongside of the Socialists
mean also to study the political part the peasant
his action through ownership Of land upon modern
France. He is the majority the latent force tha6
sleeps and which is able whenever II Is aroused
to seal the fate Of the country. IL Is also my
intention to study him in his relations with the
Church and to see to what extent religion has
hold on him.
NJ lola has come into his winter quarters in the
Rue de Boulosne, in the Quarter Breda dis
trict very much inhabited by artists and demi'
monde women, Of not nrst-rate standing in theiI
profession but who generally live in domiciles OF
their own His chambers are up several nights
OF q rather shabby stair. His rooms are not fur.
nished tastefuy. but he has a vast quantity Of
objects of taste crowded on etagercs, mantei'
nieces side tables cabinets, and so forth. Some
day he means to build house where there Will
be room for them and to spare. Ills portrait py
Manet and other impressionist pictures, hang ON
the wall. ! could not say why, but NJ Zoa gives
me the impression Of who has not yet shaken
of the traces Of sordd poverty. and seems bent ON
preventing his animal heat from being iost. Inc
arms are kept close to the body the shonidcm rise
toward the ears and his coat Is buttoncd up a. IN
the days when his hearth was WIFI
out fire, and ne was ophseu
TRUST to killing sparrows OF his garrett window
sor a meals meat lie looks very shy, has
n thick tongue in speaking, and the concentrates
expression I'm his black and somewhat
fixed eyes gives them almost the crosssiain1 look
N. lola is o thinker, and therein lies hs
superiority to Daudct who is little OF poet ana
GOOD deal of an artist without any philosophicss
insight NJ. lola thinks out his subjects nrss OF
all Indeed he sweats his brain ut this part Oh NM
literary work, and then he bus,es himseh Win
tho noem He tries to make 1t both striking ana
appropriatc to the idea be has to express. NO
body understands better than he does thai com
monplaces hide truth from most eyes